Hero of Fiesta sniper shooting gets long-deserved recognition

Two people were killed and 51 injured on April 27, 1979, when Ira Attebury opened fire from inside his mobile home on a festive crowd gathered to watch the Battle of Flowers Parade at the intersection of Broadway and East Grayson Street.

PHOTO: T.J. Lapping is comforted by his aunt Dianne Wick while his mother, who was shot in the neck by Ira Attebury, is treated nearby on Friday, April 27, 1979, in San Antonio.

Photo By Al Ransom/San Antonio Light

Fiesta sniper victim Dianne Wick is stunned after her left temple was "creased" by a shot fired from a sniper's gun Friday, April 27, 1979.

Photo By Al Guzman/San Antonio Light

The last remaining spectators scramble away from hiding places at the parade scene on Broadway while local law enforcement officers attempt to secure the area on Friday, April 27, 1979.

Photo By Al Guzman/San Antonio Light

Local SWAT team members enter the vehicle of the sniper on Friday, April 27, 1979.

Photo By Gloria Ferniz/San Antonio Express-News

Kathi Sikes and her son T.J. Lapping hold clips of pictures taken of them during the sniper shooting at the Battle of Flowers Parade in 1979. The two were at Sikes' home Sunday, April 11, 1999.

Photo By William Luther/San Antonio Express-News

Retired officer James Middleton wipes a tear from his face Friday afternoon, Jan. 11, 2007, at Municipal Auditorium after receiving the San Antonio Police Department's Medal of Valor award, the department's highest honor, for his actions during the 1979 Fiesta Sniper shooting.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Police Chief Albert Ortiz (right) places the Purple Heart Medal around the neck of Sgt. Louis Grassmuck for his outstanding police work during the 1979 Fiesta parade sniper incident, Tuesday, March 4, 2003.

Photo By Lisa Krantz/San Antonio Express-News

Cecilia Penix holds a photograph of her mother, Amelia Castillo, at Penix's home in San Antonio on Thursday, April 23, 2009. Cecilia was shot in the hand and her mother was killed by the sniper, Ira Attebury, during the 1979 Battle of Flowers Parade.

Photo By Helen L. Montoya/San Antonio Express-News

Gary Nagy was the first person shot by Ira Attebury at the 1979 Battle of Flowers Parade. He was an SAPD lieutenant at the time. His former wife, Gayla, and his children were also shot that day. His son Shane (left) was 6 years old at the time of the incident, and was shot in the foot.

This story was originally published January 12, 2008.

It's been almost 30 years since the hot April morning when a crazed sniper fired dozens of shots into Fiesta's Battle of Flowers Parade. But the memory of it was enough to reduce a grown man --- and a hardened police officer -- to tears Friday, as he accepted a long overdue reward for his bravery.

Retired officer James Middleton was a young father in 1979, a hard-working traffic officer doing off-duty crowd control work for the parade when dozens of shots began ringing out near his post at the corner of Broadway and Grayson.

Armed with a shotgun and a rifle and fueled by the street drug PCP, Ira Attebury turned the celebration into chaos.

Attebury, a retired truck driver and veteran, had horded an arsenal in his parked motor home and, within seconds, Sgt. Ben Donahoe was shot, lying wounded in the middle of Broadway. Panicked, the crowd tried to scatter but Attebury showed no signs of stopping.

In an act that earned him the Police Department's highest award, the Medal of Valor, Middleton climbed into a police car and maneuvered it into the space between the shooter, the wounded officer and the crowd, all as Attebury kept firing.

"He created a buffer of safety allowing the citizens to escape, " Deputy Chief Steve Barrera said at the department's annual award's ceremony Friday. "He drove into the line of fire to protect and to shield others."

Middleton grabbed Donahoe, pulled him into the police car, and resumed shooting at Attebury. The gunman was later found dead of a gunshot wound inside his trailer, but he'd already left an indelible black mark on the city: Two women died, 17 people suffered serious wounds, including five police officers, and dozens of others were injured.

At the time, the police department had no award system in place and Middleton, 61, retired before one was implemented. Since then, all officers who committed acts of bravery in that incident have received awards -- except for him.

Along with Middleton, Officer Jeremy Swindells was awarded the Medal of Valor Friday for his role in saving a woman from a burning home on the far West Side last year. Nine other officers received the Lifesaving Award, and 14 civilians were given various certificates for their roles in emergency situations over the past year.

Police Chief William McManus said all the award recipients "have shown leadership, and they have shown courage, and they have shown all the things it takes to be a San Antonio Police Officer."

"No matter what anybody says, no matter what incidents occur, we need to remember we are out there every day saving lives, " he said.

As the audience gave Middleton a standing ovation, his daughter wiped tears from her face and flashed a smile.

"It's about damn time, " said Christine Haag, who was a first-grader at the time of the attack. The award, she said, "means the world to my father. He deserves it more than anybody."

In characteristic humble fashion, Middleton gruffly insisted, "Anybody would have done the same thing. I was just the first one there." Then the police officer turned his face, struggling to hide his tears.